H. B. 2444
(By Delegates Love, Collins, Manuel and Pettit)
[Introduced February 10, 1995; referred to the
Committee on Political Subdivisions then the
Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact sections three and three-cc, article
one, chapter seven of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, all relating
to emergency communications systems; authorizing counties to
establish a uniform system for the naming or renaming of
roadways; to adopt minimum standards for emergency
communications systems; to establish standards for alarm
systems; and to impose service fees for nuisance and
nonemergency calls.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections three and three-cc, article one, chapter seven
of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 1. COUNTY COMMISSIONS GENERALLY.
§7-1-3. Jurisdiction, powers and duties.
The county courts commissions, through their clerks, shall
have the custody of all deeds and other papers presented for
record in their counties, and the same shall be preserved
therein, or otherwise disposed of as now is, or may be prescribed
by law. They shall have jurisdiction in all matters of probate,
the appointment and qualification of personal representatives,
guardians, committees, curators, and the settlement of their
accounts, and in all matters relating to apprentices. They shall
also, under such regulations as now are or may be prescribed by
law, have the superintendence and administration of the internal
police and fiscal affairs of their counties, including the
establishment and regulation of roads, ways, streets, avenues,
drives and the like, and the naming or renaming thereof, in
cooperation with local postal authorities and the directors of
county emergency communications centers, to assure uniform,
nonduplicative conversion of all rural routes to city-type
addressing on a permanent basis, bridges, public landings,
ferries and mills, with authority to lay and disburse the county
levies. They shall, in all cases of contest, judge of the
election, qualification and returns of their own members, and of
all county and district officers, subject to appeal as prescribed
by law. Such tribunals as have been heretofore established by
the Legislature under and by virtue of the thirty-fourth section
of the eighth article of the Constitution of eighteen hundred and
seventy-two, for police and fiscal purposes, shall, until otherwise provided by law, remain and continue as at present
constituted in the counties in which they have been respectively
established, and shall be and act as to police and fiscal matters
in lieu of the county court commission herein mentioned, until
otherwise provided by law. And until otherwise provided by law,
such clerk as is mentioned in the twenty-sixth section of the
eighth article of the Constitution, as amended, shall exercise
any powers and discharge any duties heretofore conferred on, or
required of, any court or tribunal established for judicial
purposes under the said article and section of the Constitution
of eighteen hundred and seventy-two, or the clerk of such court
or tribunal respectively, respecting the recording and
preservation of deeds and other papers presented for record,
matters of probate, the appointment and qualification of personal
representatives, guardians, committees, curators and the
settlement of their accounts, and in all matters relating to
apprentices.
§7-1-3cc. Authority of county commissions to establish enhanced
emergency telephone systems, technical and
operational standards for emergency communications
centers, and standards for education and training of
emergency communications systems personnel; fee upon
consumers of telephone service for such systems;
authority to contract with the telephone companies
for billing of such fee; impose service fees for nuisance and nonemergency calls.
(a) In addition to possessing the authority to establish an
emergency telephone system pursuant to section four, article six,
chapter twenty-four, a county commission or the county
commissions of two or more counties may, instead, establish an
enhanced emergency telephone system or convert an existing system
to an enhanced emergency system. The establishment of such a
system shall be subject to the provisions of article six, chapter
twenty-four of this code. The county commission may adopt rules
after receiving recommendations from the West Virginia enhanced
911 council concerning the operation of all county emergency
communications centers or emergency telephone systems centers in
the state, including, but not limited to, recommendations for:
(i) Minimum standards for emergency telephone systems and
emergency communications centers;
(ii) Minimum standards for equipment used in any center
receiving telephone calls of an emergency nature and dispatching
emergency service providers in response to that call, and which
receives 911 moneys or has basic 911 service funded through its
county commission; and
(iii) Minimum standards for education and training of all
personnel in emergency communications centers.
(b) A county commission may impose a fee upon consumers of
local exchange service within that county for an enhanced
emergency telephone system and associated electronic equipment, and for the conversion of all rural routes to city-type
addressing, as provided in section three of this article. Such
fee shall be utilized solely for the capital, installation and
maintenance costs of the enhanced emergency telephone system,
and of the conversion to city-type addressing. The county shall
reduce such fee when the capital and installation costs have been
fully recovered to the level necessary to offset recurring
maintenance and dispatcher costs only. No such fee may be used
for the costs associated with establishing, equipping,
furnishing, operating or maintaining a county answering point.
(c) A county commission may contract with the telephone
company or companies providing local exchange service within the
county for such telephone company or companies to act as the
billing agent or agents of the county commission for the billing
of the fee imposed pursuant to subsection (b) of this section.
The cost for such billing agent services may be included as a
recurring maintenance cost of the enhanced emergency telephone
system.
(d) A county commission of any county with an emergency
communications center or emergency telephone system may establish
standards for alarm systems, including security, fire and medical
alarms. A county commission may impose service fees upon those
persons, agencies and facilities responsible for any and all
calls of a nuisance or nonemergency nature which are responded to
by personnel operating the emergency communications center or emergency telephone system.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to authorize counties to
establish a uniform system for the naming or renaming of all
roadways; to adopt minimum standards for county emergency
communications centers and emergency telephone systems on the
recommendation of the West Virginia enhanced 911 council; to
establish standards for alarm systems; and to impose service fees
on those responsible for nuisance and nonemergency calls.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.